


Think You're Funny (When I Get The Punchline Wrong)

by pirateygoodness



Category: Legend of the Seeker Summer Camp AU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-05
Updated: 2011-04-05
Packaged: 2017-10-17 20:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/180774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirateygoodness/pseuds/pirateygoodness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>"Come on," Cara says. She quirks one eyebrow, in a silent dare, and Kahlan sighs.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Think You're Funny (When I Get The Punchline Wrong)

**Author's Note:**

> Title quoted from Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream."

It's a Friday, the night before Kahlan's day off. She knows that, probably, she should be out doing something wild and irresponsible - Richard's been getting after her about it all week. But she's been chasing after enthusiastic-bordering-on-feral children for two straight weeks, and she's exhausted. The one thing she wants most in the world is sleep.

She goes to bed early, alone in her cabin, just after dinner. But instead of waking the next morning, she wakes up in the dark, disoriented. After a moment, she understands what must have awoken her - someone is tapping at her window. Briefly, she's fearful, until she looks across the cabin to see Cara, her face pale and eerie against the glass.

Kahlan rolls her eyes, but she throws on a sweatshirt and crosses the cabin to the door, all the same.

Cara meets her there, bright-eyed and awake, still wearing the cut-offs she's had on all day. It's a little colder than it was this afternoon, and Car's got a plaid shirt on as a coverup, half-buttoned and hanging open at her hips and her collarbone. At her shoulders, Kahlan can see the outlines of two red straps, the ones she knows belong to Cara's bikini top, and all she can think is that Cara's the prettiest girl she's ever seen. It gives Kahlan a sudden rush of self-consciousness, standing at the cabin door barefoot, in her pyjama shorts and an "Aydindril College" hoodie.

"Hey," Cara says, her smile almost too white in the dark. "What are you doing right now?"

Kahlan blinks at her, running a hand through her hair. Her fingers catch, and she has to resist the urge to take a moment and fix it. "Sleeping," she says. "Cara, it's like, two in the morning."

Cara shrugs, her shoulders rolling effortlessly. "You've got your weekend off tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I -"

"Come with me. Just for a little while."

Kahlan sighs, thinking about how warm and cozy she just was in her sleeping bag. "Cara, I don't -"

Cara reaches out, circling her hand around Kahlan's forearm and tugging. As she moves, her shirt rides up just a little, revealing a long slice of bare skin at her stomach. Even in the dim light, Kahlan can see that tan of hers, and she feels her mouth go dry. Suddenly, she's not tired. "Come on," Cara says. She quirks one eyebrow, in a silent dare, and Kahlan sighs.

She wants to sleep, but not more than she wants to follow Cara and that slice of bare skin out into the night. "Fine," she says. Cara breaks into a smile, and something in Kahlan's chest does a flip. "Just let me get dressed, first."

Cara stops, then, and looks Kahlan up and down like it's the first time she's noticed her. Kahlan tries not to fidget, suddenly overwhelmed with thinking about everything that could possibly be embarrassing about the way she looks right now - the little pink pinstripes on her shorts, the way her hair is tangled and probably frizzing and spilling all over her shoulders, unruly.

"Alright," Cara says, and it sounds an awful lot like the voice she uses when Kahlan's naked. Kahlan glances at her face, and Cara's expression is a lot like the one she has when Kahlan's naked, too. Reflexively, she crosses her arms over her chest. "If you want."

Kahlan turns back into the cabin, blushing.

She gets dressed in record time, and does her best not to think about Cara and that look on her face, waiting outside.

*

  
When she steps back out, Cara's waiting for her, leaning against the side of the cabin. Her arms are folded across her chest, pressing her boobs together just enough that Kahlan can see the V of her cleavage above the open front of her shirt. One foot is planted on the ground, and the other is crossed overtop of it, and Cara's pushed back against the cabin in a way that makes her hips jut out more than a little suggestively. She reminds Kahlan of Abercrombie & Fitch ads, and the way she looks when Kahlan's pressed against her and they're kissing, overheated and cramped in the back of Cara's car.

"Hey," Kahlan says, softly. Cara catches her eye, and Kahlan suddenly gets shy, reaching up to fix her hair.

Cara's mouth curves upward, but it's closer to a smirk than a smile, as she looks Kahlan up and down one more time. Then she pushes off from the cabin wall, hips swaying, and comes closer. She walks up the cabin steps, until she's toe to toe with Kahlan, and all Kahlan can think about is how good she smells, like sweat and sunscreen and shampoo. Cara leans in, nose bumping against Kahlan's, and then she kisses her, hard, like they haven't seen each other in days. She licks into Kahlan's mouth, making her think about all of the other things she's done to Kahlan with her tongue, and when she pulls back, she nips at Kahlan's lower lip.

The whole thing leaves Kahlan breathless and flustered, and half-thinking about pulling Cara back inside. (Even though there's a rule about not having boys in the girls' cabins, and Kahlan's pretty adamant about not breaking it. Cara's not a boy, but Kahlan's pretty sure that fooling arond with her in her bunk sort of breaks the spirit of that rule, all the same.)

"Good," Cara says, stepping back. She looks a little smug as she smiles at Kahlan. "You're done."

She walks off into the trees. Kahlan walks after her, trying not to stare too hard at the shape of her ass in those cutoffs.

*

They walk in silence, for a while, listening to the sound of bugs chirping and the crunch of dirt under their shoes. It's dark, but Kahlan's eyes adjust pretty fast, and there's enough moonlight between the trees to show the way. The stripes of light falling across Cara's shoulders make her look pale, almost ghostlike, and it's beautiful in a way that Kahlan almost doesn't know how to talk about.

Cara is the one with the quick strides, even though Kahlan's taller, and after a mile or so Kahlan is lagging behind.

"Hey," she says, jogging a few steps and grabbing for Cara's hand. Their fingers tangle instinctively, and Cara slows to a stop. "Not so fast. Some of us just got out of bed."

Cara's gaze flicks down to their joined hands, and the corners of her mouth flicker like she's trying not to look pleased."Try to keep up," she says, gruffly.

Kahlan would be hurt, if it weren't for the way that Cara's grip tightens around her hand, and she doesn't let go.

*

Cara leads her for what feels like close to an hour, through the trees and along the lakeshore. Kahlan knows they're well past the camp boundaries by now, edging onto the part of the lake that's unclaimed, before the private properties start to crop up.

"You do know where we're going, don't you?" Kahlan asks, just once. She's not the type to get nervous about being outdoors, but they have been walking for a while, and Cara's not the sort of person who admits to being lost.

Cara smiles at her, wide and easy. "Of course," she says, dragging her thumb across the back of Kahlan's hand. "Why, you scared?"

"Cara," Kahlan says. She wants to sound stern and grown-up, but it comes out a little more childish than she meant.

"Don't worry," Cara says back. At Kahlan's tone, her smile softens into something a bit sweeter, and suddenly Kahlan doesn't mind sounding like a kid. "We're almost there."

It's only a few more yards before she turns to Kahlan and speaks again. "Okay."

"Okay, what?"

Cara nudges her with her hip. "Okay, we're here. Close your eyes."

Kahlan obeys, but only for a moment. "You're not going to try something gross, are you?"

Cara rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't ever."

"You do gross things to Richard all the time." Kahlan says. Just last week, Cara slipped a frog into his sleeping bag, and he's been plotting revenge ever since.

Cara shrugs. "Yeah, but Richard's not my -" she stops, glancing away for a moment. The look on her face is evasive, and maybe a little shy. "He's Richard, it's different. Just close your eyes."

Kahlan can't help but smile. "Alright."

Cara tugs at her hand, and Kahlan steps forward. She's tentative at first, worried that she'll trip or that Cara's about to push her into the lake, but after a while she starts to walk more confidently. She feels the ground under her sneakers change from dirt trail, to rocks, and then to something that feels an awful lot like sand. When Cara stops moving, Kahlan can hear the lap of water at the lakeshore. "Okay," Cara says, mouth close to Kahlan's ear. "Open them."

Kahlan does, and for a second, the sight in front of her is so beautiful that she can't breathe. It's the lake, the same one she's been going to for years, but somehow from here all Kahlan can see are the best parts of it. She can't believe how big and imposing the moon looks, in the sky and reflected against the black glimmer of the lake, how perfect the pine trees at the shore can seem. She can see the camp in the distance, barely visible around the curve of the shoreline, but it's beautiful, too.

Kahlan turns to Cara, and the hopeful look on her face is even prettier. Kahlan pulls her in for a kiss, shyly. "It's beautiful," she says, voice soft. "What did you want to show me?"

Cara moves close, fitting herself against Kahlan's hip. One hand reaches out to rub at Kahlan's back, settling on the curve of her waist. "This," she says, leaning in to lap at Kahlan's neck, then nibble at her earlobe. Kahlan shivers at the feel of her mouth, and something in her chest does a flip. "Best makeout spot on the whole lake."

Kahlan starts to feel warm all over. "Yeah?" she says. It comes out a little huskier than she was expecting.

"Yeah," she says, pressing a kiss to the back of Kahlan's neck. "Nobody can see us right now."

"So?" Kahlan says, turning around to pull Cara into a real kiss, letting her hands knot in Cara's hair. "Nobody can see us in your car, either."

"Yeah," Cara murmurs against her mouth, in between kisses. "But here, we can be as loud as we want."

Kahlan laughs against Cara's lips, pulling back just a little. Cara's palm is still fitted against the small of her back, keeping her near, but she angles her head so that she can look at Kahlan, her expression a question.

"Why are you such a perv?" Kahlan says, gently.

Cara smiles at her, eyes half-glazed over from kissing, and quirks an eyebrow. Kahlan knows that look, and exactly what usually happens afterwards, and she can't help herself; she blushes and bites her lip. "Whatever," Kahlan huffs, trying not to sound flustered. It doesn't work. "It's a good thing you're pretty."

Cara leans close, mouth warm and wet, and licks into Kahlan's mouth with her tongue. Everything about the kiss is fierce, eager, and when she pulls back Kahlan is more than a little flustered. "No," she says, her mouth pressed to the hollow of Kahlan's collarbone, then her throat, then the skin just behind her ears. "You're pretty," she all but growls against Kahlan's ear.

Kahlan feels something start to bloom in her chest, warm and bright and in time with the thudding of her heart. When she sighs, it's more from that feeling than from the things Cara is doing to her neck.

She reaches out and presses her palm to Cara's chest, letting it sit in the open V of her shirt. "You know what?" she says. "This was totally worth getting up in the middle of the night."

Cara stops, suddenly, and starts to move away. Reflexively, Kahlan's fingers wrap around the edges of Cara's collar to keep her close. There's a softness in Cara's eyes that Kahlan hasn't seen before, and she watches Kahlan for a long while. "Yeah," she huffs, turning her head to the side and letting her hair fall forward, covering her face. "Whatever."

Kahlan reaches for her hand, finds it. "Come on," she says.

They walk across the sand, down to the edge of the beach. Kahlan kicks off her shoes, and lets the sand sink in between her bare toes. Cara lets go of her hand to untie the laces of her sneakers.

Kahlan keeps walking, just to the edge of the water, where the sand starts to go from dry to wet. She sits, letting her toes dig in, and watches the waves lap at her toes until Cara sits down beside her. Kahlan nudges at Cara's shoulder, and Cara wraps her arm around Kahlan's waist, instinctively. It's almost what Kahlan is hoping for, but not quite, and something about that look in Cara's eyes makes her confident enough to reach over and drape Cara's arm over her shoulders, so that she can cuddle in closer.

Cara is stiff behind her, at first, but after a few seconds she starts to relax against Kahlan's side. She shifts, moving so that her front is pressed to Kahlan's back. Kahlan feels her lean forward, until they're curled against each other, looking out at the lake. Cara's arm is draped across Kahlan's shoulders, and the other snakes forward to wrap around her waist and rest against her belly, possessively.

"You know," Kahlan says, dragging her thumb across the back of Cara's hand. "We don't always have to have sex. We could just do this, sometimes."

"We could?" Cara says. She sounds genuinely surprised, and Kahlan wishes that she could see the expression on her face, just for moment. Her nose is buried in Kahlan's hair, though, warm and comforting, and that's almost as good.

"Yeah." Kahlan says. She reaches over to lace her fingers between Cara's, and she squeezes.

"Alright," Cara says, softly. "I -" She stops speaking to curl in even closer, and presses a kiss to Kahlan's temple. "This is nice."

"Yeah," Kahlan whispers. "I think this is nice, too."


End file.
